With holiday season around the corner, USPS announces shipping deadlines

With holiday season around the corner, USPS announces shipping deadlines

RICHMOND, Va. – Fall is upon us and the holiday season is right around the corner.

With that in mind, the U.S. Postal Service has released the 2018 holiday shipping deadlines for the delivery of cards and gifts to your loved ones this holiday season.

2018 Holiday Shipping Deadlines

The Postal Service recommends the following mailing and shipping deadlines for expected delivery by Dec. 25 to Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office and domestic addresses:

November 6

APO/FPO/DPO (all ZIP Codes) USPS Retail Ground

December 4

APO/FPO/DPO (ZIP Code 093 only) Priority Mail and First-Class Mail

December 11

APO/FPO/DPO (all other ZIP Codes) Priority Mail and First-Class Mail

December 14

USPS Retail Ground

December 18

APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express

December 20

First-Class Mail (including greeting cards)

First-class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)

Alaska to mainland Priority Mail and First-Class Mail

Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail and First-Class Mail

Priority Mail

December 22

Alaska to mainland Priority Mail Express

Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail Express

Priority Mail Express

Busiest Mailing and Delivery Days

The busiest time of year for the USPS starts two weeks before Christmas. Beginning the week of Dec. 10, customer traffic is expected to increase, and the Postal Service expects to deliver nearly 200 million packages per week during these two weeks.

The week of December 17-23 is predicted to be the busiest mailing, shipping and delivery week. The Postal Service expects to process and deliver nearly 3 billion pieces of First-Class Mail during this week alone.

The Postal Service anticipates that Dec. 17 will be the Postal Service’s busiest day online with more than 8 million consumers predicted to visit usps.com for help shipping.

Additional news and information, including all domestic, international and military mailing and shipping deadlines, can be found here.